Fire-escape



(No Model.)

C. G. GRISWOLD.

FIRE ESCAPE.

No. 279,150. Patented June 12,1883.

lIIlHI Hilllllll preferable, that the brackets should be made of cHAnL'Es c. eniswoLD,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF CHICAGO, ILLIXOIS.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

' SPECIFICATION forming parrot Letters Application tiled March 13, 1883.

To all whom it muy concern: Y Be it known that I, GHAnLEs C. GniswoLn, oi' Chicago, in the county of'Cook and State of Illinois, a -citizeu of the' UnitedStates of America, have invent-ed certa-in new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, of which the following, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification. V

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of a building provided with tire-escapes embodying'my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail, being a top view ot' the ladder support or bracket. Fig. 3 is a detail showing the front ot' the bracket and of a ladder arranged and supported therein, and Fig. 4 is a detail in perspective of the upper part of one ot' the ladders.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts.

A. represents a building.

B B are ladder supports or brackets applied permanently to the building, and arranged one above the other between the windows, being, by preference, between the vertical rows of windows, and each bracket being at about thev height of the upper end of the lower sash, respectively, as shown. These brackets have a front bar, c, supported by means of arms c c, permanently applied to the building. In the example shown the arms c c consist of rods or bars of iron either laid with the wall while vthe building is being erected or thereafter driven firmly therein. The arms c c project horizontally from the building', and are in the same plane. Thebarsaaare also made of metal, and are rigidly secured to the arms c a', extending horizontally fromone to the other, as shown. It is not essential to this invention that the mode of applying the brackets to the building and of securing the bar a to the arms a a. should be practiced precisely as shown and described; nor is it absolutely essential, though metal. By making them of metal they will be fire-proof, or practically so. The bar c has U- shaped parts B B extending inward or toward oted-,to the inner side of the bar c, and capable of being moved or swung in the directions indicated by the yarrows shown in Fig. 3. These locks perform the function of temporarily closing the otherwise open ends of the parts B B, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

Patent No. 279,150, dated June 1.2, 1883,

(No model.)

D D are ladders, commonly known as S- ladders? rIfhese ladders have side bars, the upper ends of which are hook-shaped, as shown. The ladders D l) are of such a width that their hooks may be hooked with facility upon the cross-bar or' the U-shaped parts B B.

'llo apply my invention to use for the purpose for which it is intended I proceed as follows: The brackets B B, I apply to the building in the manner shown and described, the locks or catches C C being turned over toward each other in the manner indicated by the dotted or broken lines in Fig. 3, when the)r will support each other horizontally, their free ends meeting each other as a horizontal position is reached. I then suspend the ladders on t-he brackets, beginning either at the upper or at the lower bracket. In beginning at the upper bracket the ladder rst hung is taken out at the upper story of the building, where it may be hung with facility. After hanging this ladder upon its supporting bracket I throw the locks C C over toward the ends lol' the bracket, as is plainly indicated by the full lines iu Fig. 3, thus preventing the ladder from being accidentally removed or disconnected from its support.V I then hang the other ladders in like manner, moving out the lower end of each upper ladder, so as to permit the next lower ladder to be properly suspended. The ladders after being once hung may be allowed to remain suspendediibr use as occasion may require; or they may be taken down Aafter such an occasion has passed and stored in the building for subsequent use. In beginningat the lower bracket, I hang and secure a ladder thereon, then take a second ladder and carry it up the one first hung, and suspend the second ladder in like manner from the second bracket, and so on until the upper bracket is reached.` In practice, however, Iwould deem it best merely `to apply the bracket-s properly to the building and to supply the fire-department with the ladders, so that in case the building takes iire the iiremen may apply the ladders thereto, beginning at the lower bracket in the manner described. By this means the ladders may be applied very quickly, one fireman following the other each with a ladder.

It will be perceived that the fire-departments can carry and more easily manage a number IOO of comparatively short ladders than one which is extremely long and adapted to reach to the upper story ot' a very high building. It Will also be perceived that both the brackets and the ladders are easily accessible from the Windows ofthe building, and that the necessity of providing stand-pipes with permanent rungs is avoided.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-

The combination, in a iire`escape, of a series of ladders, D D, having hook-,shaped uppel` ends, and laddersupporting bars having U- shaped parts B B, and provided with the piv- I 5 oted or swinging catches or locks C C, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

oHaRinEs o. GRIsWoLD. Xlfvitliesses: Y

N.' CoWLns, XV. S. BAKER. 

